Pen-Elayne on the Web

3-Way

What a cynical world we live in, where nobody could even conceive of guessing that tonight's Jeopardy! 3-way tie would be that everyone won the same amount (which is a first for the show), rather than that they all lost (which has apparently happened once before). And that so many are now dismissing it as trivial or a non-event.

Granted, the returning champion was what Robin and I call "an $01 person," having presumably bet a single dollar more than his nearest competitor in a previous game in order to -- I've always felt -- rub his victory in his opponent's face by risking the least amount he could to still ensure a win. So perhaps he wasn't a likely candidate to think what I've always fantasized of thinking were I in that circumstance: "Hey, I'm in the lead by x-amount, and if these two other folks bet everything they have and win, I can actually create a 3-way tie by betting y-amount, then we'd all be winners, and that would be cool!"

Because a win-win-win situation is a very cool thing, darn it all. And it's not trivial and it's not a "non-event" and it's the kind of thinking we need to encourage a lot more in this world.

Update 3/17: Via Mark Evanier, the player who created the 3-way tie, Scott Weiss, explains why he did so on his LiveJournal blog:

I thought it would be really cool to be a part of Jeopardy history. I knew that meant I'd be playing seasoned opponents, but it didn't matter to me. I had already won a couple of games myself, and I thought it would be neat to share the money...

But there have been other unexpected benefits. A schoolteacher present at the game came up to me and said I taught the kids a great lesson in sportsmanship and generosity. Cecil and I have become good friends with Anders and his wife Juneko, and Jamey and his wife Beth. Juneko made Beth and Cecil gorgeous glass pendants commemorating the tie, and she made a teddy bear for Ragnar out of felt. I just got a note from Anders asking what charity I'd like him to donate some of his money to.

Some people, maybe even many people, seem to think the wager was a mistake. But I don't think so. I can't say I was 100% altruistic in my decision. I liked Anders and Jamey; Anders and I had talked at lunch about cryptics a little, and Jamey seemed like a fun person. (Maggie commented to us before the game as to what a good time I seemed to be having, and Jamey half-joked that he hoped I'd have a little less of a good time then.) But I really wasn't thinking about them. I thought more of the show. I've been watching Jeopardy! for all of its 23 years. Yesterday I got to give something back. How many players or even champions get the opportunity to do that?

Giving something back, and getting far more in return than you ever thought you would. The intangibles. This is what it's all about. Hooray, Scott!